Orit Sen-Gupta

35 years of yoga experienceOrit has been practicing yoga for over 30 years. She studied Iyengar Yoga in Puna and trained in the Eighties with Pattabhi Jois in Mysore. She studied and taught with Dona Holleman for 12 years. Together they wrote "Dancing the Body of Light", a comprehensive text on yoga.

Practicing from insideIn searching for a way of moving the body as one un-fragmented unit Orit gradually discarded the overuse of anatomical terms, which tend to view the body from the outside. Listening from inside, she found that adhering to the middle and using the 7 vital principles, allows for a simple yet precise asana practice. This, she feels, frees us to celebrate the pure joy of moving and being.

Teaching

Teaching is an art in itself. As the years pass, communicating yoga and exploring yoga with students has become a passion in itself. For it is in this meeting that yoga as a living tradition is transmitted.

Philosophy Orit graduated from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem with a degree in Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy. She was the first to translate Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras from Sanskrit into Hebrew. Orit believes that the research and study of yogic texts is important for the development of yoga in our times. Researching old pranayama texts, she deepened her understanding of the ancient techniques of Vayu practice. During the last few years Orit has been writing extensively and published the following books: Vayu’s Gate, The Heart of Practice and A Little Book of Yoga, all available in English, Dutch and Hebrew. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, A New Translation, has recently come out in English (2013).

Vijñāna Yoga SchoolIn 2002, together with a group of experienced teachers, Orit founded the Vijñāna Yoga School. Since 1996 she has been training yoga teachers in Israel and Europe and giving international retreats. Today there are Vijnana Yoga Centers and Vijnana Yoga Teacher Trainings in Canada, Mexico, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Finland and Israel. There are also Vijnana Yoga teachers in other countries in Europe, U.S.A. and Australia.